Sky Blue Blog

Movie Time

The
gates have opened. The heavens have parted. And there is light shining upon my
family since we started watching movies together. The watching of movies is
nothing new for the three of us. Years ago, it was your standard grazing of Disney
and Pixar from the lengthy buffet of screen choices. We grinned and grimaced
our way through All
Dogs Go to Heaven (Check it out ... one freaky film for kids. The
animated movie's lead character, yes, a dog, dies, then dodges the angels to buy
some more time on Earth, and ends up helping out an orphan girl. And there's a
singing alligator.) And then there were the movies about construction
equipment. We pressed the rewind button on the VCR player so that we might view
-- over and over again -- Mighty Machines -- At The
Construction Site where the bulldozer, excavator and crane all have human voices
while on the job. Many moons ago, my son William got up bright and early at 5 a.m so he could begin his day seeing the movie's ultimate
demolition of a building -- dynamite and a countdown. High drama and high
sleep deprivation for all.

We
still go to our fair share of movies at the theater, despite Netflix and cable
being two additional family members in the Kirk home. We have sidestepped the
home theater, not really out of any principles but because of lack of space and
money for the completely awesome movie chairs. (But do you agree that when you
sit in one of those you feel a bit like the heavy humans in the movie WALL-E? Remember that their toes had
evolved into useless webbed sausages from using only the motorized movie chairs to
navigate their home ship, as opposed to standing and walking. But that's just a
movie, right?) The same kid who once couldn't get enough of the talking
bulldozer now pounces on my laptop so he can cruise through Dr. Who, the Monk
television series starring Tony Shalhoub and the more
recent Psych shows. Did I mention that William has a great sense of
humor? I guess it all started with that bulldozer. Our movies at the theaters
are mostly box office hits like Guardians of the Galaxy. All I can say
about that is thank goodness it's no more than two hours out of a day.

Disney/Pixar

Make sure your home theater doesn't leave you as helplessly out of shape as the supporting cast of WALL-E.

Redbox
spit out our most recent film to watch at home. Not touted as a 2013
blockbuster The Secret Life of Walter Mitty had depth and breadth and despite the lead
character's actual or imagined ("zoned-out") action scenes, it wasn't about
that. Based on the James Thurber's short story that appeared in The New
Yorker in 1939, it met the criteria a parent has when she wants to move her
children into some good movie discernment. It has good actors, strong story line,
various locations, a bit of action, a lot of ingenuity, and a happy ending that
really is more of a happy beginning of something the audience can only imagine.
Another movie that I thought would never make the cut in our household was Arsenic and Old Lace.
Originally a play, it is mostly known for its film adaptation in 1944, starring
Carey Grant and my favorite, Peter Lorre ("Johnny, not the face"). My oldest
was just 7 years old when he watched it with me and his dad and got the humor
and ridiculousness of the dark situation immediately.

We've
had some Battleship-board game "misses" along the way too. Raiders
of the Lost Ark was way more violent than I remembered for younger
kids. Who knew I could run to the television that quickly to shield my kids
from the opening scene, as I desperately fumbled to find the off button? And Austin
Powers. When your kid turns to you at one point and asks if this is
appropriate for him to watch, just shut it down.

I
encourage all of us parents to pull movies -- and any well-done television
series -- from our own film repertoire and ask friends and family for
suggestions. And do a Google search as well as check out a book or two, such as
The Best Old Movies for Families: A Guide to Watching Together by Ty
Burr. I always find it helpful to peruse the DVD selection at my local library.
Seeing the movie titles will jog your memory and leave you with a longer
"must-see" list. You might not be able to bypass the talking bulldozer,
but it could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship amongst you, your kid
and witnessing art on film.